avinashs

[karaloramakesstuff]

This might be the new nerdiest thing I have ever done. I built a LEGO model of one of the features in my Legend of Zelda theme park. This is Don Gero's Frog Chorus, the interactive mini-attraction outside the music shop in Zora's Domain, and a family of four fun-loving Zelda fans to play with it!

[karaloramakesstuff]

Seasons in Time - Lughnasadh (Lammas)

Remember this from several weeks ago? Well I'm still doing these. The photos, sadly, are getting worse but I still want to show off the builds. Featuring Brent Waller's Seasons in Time Calendar again, this time decked out for Lughnasadh/Lammas, the First Harvest! A table laden with bread, sweet corn, and green apples stands in a field with a lush tree and a crop of wheat partway through the reaping. In the left foreground, a scythe to cut the grain and a staff for mock/ritual combat are stored in a barrel.

[karaloramakesstuff]

Seasons in Time - Litha (Midsummer's Day/Summer Solstice)

Wow, it's been a hot minute since I posted anything here, hasn't it?

Please forgive the dreadful quality of these photos--it's not easy to get good lighting conditions when the best backdrop you have at the moment is a flatscreen TV.

This is a LEGO model: Brent Waller's absolutely stunning Seasons in Time Calendar, a mantelpiece ornament which can be adorned with tiny scenes representing seasons, holidays, or other occasions. His piece list and instructions include several well-known examples...but the one you see here is My Own Creation in honor of Litha. A hilltop bonfire in the countryside echoes on Earth the magnificent power of the Sun on the longest day of the year, while the meadow below is strewn with flowers. I intend to create scenes for all of the solar Sabbats, and even change them from year to year, so stay posted!

[karaloramakesstuff]

In honor of the approach of Beltane, I have customized LEGO Set 40638-1, Valentine Heart, into this attractive asymmetrical Goddess & God heart wreath! Flowers for the Maiden on one side, sprouting leaves for the Green Man of springtime on the other, and big white blooms where they meet!

From a LEGO builder's perspective, I recommend the set in general as a terrific source for leaf and flower elements. You won't get everything you see in the photo--I modded it out of my own collection--but enough parts are included to do a few variations as shown in the instructions.

[karaloramakesstuff]

Handmade set of tree ornaments based on the Four Links/Four Elements from the Capcom trilogy of Legend of Zelda games (Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, and The Minish Cap), but more particularly based on the Hero of the Four Sword (AKA Four AKA Smithy) from the outstanding @linkeduniverse webcomic!

Each ornament is divided in quarters, with the in-game symbol of the Element on the "front," a single triangle representing the Light Force and a trail of stars on the "back," and a more literal depiction of the Element on the two "sides."

Media: Foamcore ornament bases, gimp braid, sequins, glass seed beads, satin ribbon with metallic edging.

Photos by @rrdcooc

Presented as a gift to @ahrva in honor of our WIP (with @4our-5word), "We Shall Rise Again." Read it here!

[karaloramakesstuff]

Lughnasadh 2021

Featuring my new grain deities!

When I moved last year, it was finally time for the old ones to leave me, so I burned them in my cauldron. The new ones are smaller but slightly more elaborate. As with the last bunch, the Goddess is made of corn husks and the God out of raffia (because the kind of wheat stalks sold at craft stores don't behave when you try to fold them). I then added embellishments made out of colored raffia--red-brown for the Goddess as Mother, and green for the God as the Green Man of vegetation. They are both capable of standing up without support, which is the most delightful thing I've experienced all week.

The two big candles on the ends are molded in the shape of corn on the cob, and I'm extraordinarily pleased with how true-to-life the color came out, since I achieved it by mixing together several batches of scrap wax from previous candle projects, plus some beeswax.

Merry Lughnasadh/Lammas to all!

[karaloramakesstuff]

I have made a new Grain Goddess out of cornhusks! (I returned the old one to the elements when I moved last year.) She's not elaborate, but she stands up on her own, which I think is pretty nifty. I might decorate her some more later or I might leave her plain.

Once I get some raffia, I'll make her consort.

[karaloramakesstuff]

Craft stores are just like "can I interest you in some...objects? some items? would you like some things?" and every time I'm like Oooh I love objects and items and things!

[karaloramakesstuff]

Ornament Set: Four Elements

I’ve been easing myself back into designing and making ornaments--not for sale (so far), but for my own artistic satisfaction. This is a set I’ve been knocking around in the back of my mind for a while, and since I had the past week off of work I finally decided to go for it. I let the traditional associations of the Four Classical Elements guide not just my choice of colors and shapes, but the composition of each design.

Earth: Tan base. I put a “belt” of green and brown trees around the middle, to represent the surface of the ground with plant life, and then added rows of square sequins in green, brown, gold, copper, and black to the bottom half. The uppermost row is fairly sparse, with small sequins in mostly green because it still “belongs” to the vegetation. The lower you go, the larger, darker, and more closely set the sequins are, representing heavier and denser minerals the deeper you delve into the earth. The hanger is green, the traditional elemental color of Earth.

Air: Light blue base representing the sky. The arrangement of sequins is scattershot, almost random, since Air is the “freest” of the elements. Iridescent white clouds and silver spirals represent weather systems, and there are birds in gold and butterflies in both gold and the palest aqua. The hanger is yellow, the traditional Air color.

Fire: Orange base. Fire is the most chaotic of the elements, but this is the most orderly and symmetrical of the ornaments...because only controlled Fire is safe for humans to use. There are gold flames coming down from the top to symbolize the rays of the sun, and red flames reaching up from the bottom to symbolize the inner fires of the planet. Balanced precariously along the center is a row of orange candles, the fire that we have “tamed” for our use.

Water: Blue-green base. I divided the space into three sections using iridescent blue-green rickrack. The topmost part (it doesn’t show well in the photo) is full of silver and pale blue raindrops, as well as a dolphin and a sailboat perched on the rickrack as if present on the surface of the ocean. The middle section is full of sea creatures--fish, scallops, a whale, even a mermaid--in tones of blue, blue-green, and violet, with the darker colors toward the bottom (much like the Earth ornament) and blue and blue-green wave shapes throughout. The bottom section contains only waves of the deepest blue, representing the deep ocean and the mysterious nature of Water.

Feedback is appreciated!

[karaloramakesstuff]

“Karalora (who makes stuff),” you said to me one day, “what happens when you dilute lilac-colored wax too far to really be appropriate for a springtime palette, but just about perfect for the back half of February?”

“I’m so glad you asked,” I said, and posted this:

[karaloramakesstuff]

Dryad Hair!

I have completed (again, except for the label) another item in the Bottles And Jars Of Magic Stuff Project (first introduced here). Presenting...Dryad Hair!

My Dryad Hair is made from simple hemp twine strung with tiny silk leaves. I don’t have a shelf for this one up yet. It will probably go with a lot of miscellaneous items in the living room.

[karaloramakesstuff]

Mermaid Scales!

First, some background.

A few months ago, I moved into a two-bedroom apartment with my sister. We had discussed the sort of decorating motifs we would be able to agree upon for the common areas and settled on: Enchanted Forest. As part of this aesthetic, we have been slowly working on what I call the Bottles And Jars Of Magic Stuff Project (BAJOMSP). Basically how this works is, we put up a bunch of little individual wall-mounted shelves and populate them with jars and bottles containing bits and bobs which we will label as various fantasy items. Basically, we’re whimsifying the shit out of this suburban rental unit.

And the first shelf is now up and its contents have been assigned (but not yet labeled, because that’s a project unto itself). I present to you...Mermaid Scales!

They come in three varieties, from left to right: Freshwater, Saltwater, and Deepwater. The actual “scales” are portrayed by shell-shaped sequins, sorted into thematic color palettes. (The colors are harder to make out behind the tinted glass than I anticipated, but bear with me here.)

For Freshwater, I wanted to evoke trout, bass, perch, and all those other stream and lake fish popular with hobbyist anglers. I went with silver, lighter blues and greens, and a transparent pale turquoise with an iridescent finish that I had a surprisingly large number of.

I gave my Saltwater Mermaid Scales a “tropical coral reef” look with red, magenta, bright turquoise, an offensively brassy yellow that sequin manufacturers like to market as “gold” for some reason, and a non-metallic matte peach like the inside of actual conch shells.

Deepwater Mermaid Scales are meant to call to mind the oceanic abyss, so the colors here are dark blue and indigo, black (both plain and iridescent), ghostly iridescent white, and also plain, uncolored, transparent plastic like those invisible “glass” fish and squid.

At some point I’ll make up some suitably dramatic labels for the jars, and then when it’s possible to have guests again, and those guests need to use the bathroom, they can be filled with surprised delight!

Keep watching this blog to see this project develop!

[karaloramakesstuff]

Halloween 2020 LEGO Village

It’s been a hot second since I posted anything new here, hasn’t it?

I like to build a special LEGO model for Halloween each year. This year I went with a “fun fair” concept. I used a combination of official sets, modded sets, and MOCs to get just the right atmosphere. Special thanks to @rrdcooc​ for helping me create a little army of trick-or-treaters to enjoy the festivities!

First, an overview:

From here you can see all the casual amusements, as well as the hayride train leading to the main attraction off to the right.

Next, some closeups.

The pumpkin patch and pumpkin seller:

A costume stall for those last-minute folks:

And plenty of games for the kids to play:

(It’s hard to tell in the photos, but there’s apple-bobbing, a ring toss with bats, and a couple target shooting games.)

Get your picture taken with the friendly scarecrow in front of the giant jack-o-lantern:

Then when you’re ready, it’s all aboard the haycart train!

Some of the kids aren’t too sure about this...

The hayride passes some eerie fall scenery:

And arrives at its destination!

Two skeleton attendants will let the children inside to explore:

They can meander through the garden first:

Only the bravest will make it to the rooftop:

On the way they’ll meet plenty of spooky (but harmless!) monsters who will give out candy. I didn’t have time to develop the interiors, so you’ll just have to take my word for it!

Happy Halloween!

[karaloramakesstuff]

I finally closed my Etsy shop. There didn’t seem any point in keeping it when it had been over a year since my last sale and their fee policies keep getting worse. Still working out what to do next re: crafts; my inspiration has been in the pits for some time.

[karaloramakesstuff]

It’s been a hot minute since I posted a new minifig, hasn’t it? Here’s a dark mermaid for Mer-May. Is she actually evil? I don’t know, but I don’t trust her.

[karaloramakesstuff]

Okay sooooooooo~

Etsy switched all my items to auto-renew so they could charge me again every four months.

My items are seasonal and I don’t WANT them to auto-renew out of season.

I have shuttered the shop until I figure out how to manage this.

But--

With the shenanigans Etsy has been pulling I might just be done with them.

You know what? I could sell my ornaments from HERE!

Would anyone like that? Like, I would post the photos and descriptions and you could DM me if interested?

[karaloramakesstuff]

This is so much bullshit that I’m considering closing my store and just posting all my ornaments here with a note to DM me for sales.